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The
weapons deliveries between the two countries were "dangerous"
and "destabilizing," Kim told reporters after meeting his South
Korean and Japanese counterparts in Jakarta, and reaffirmed U.S.
commitment to protecting its allies.
"At the same time we will continue our work to counter the
DPRK's unlawful WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic
missiles," Kim told a briefing, referring to North Korea by the
acronym for its official name, the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea.
The meeting took place days after the United States said the
North provided Russia with a large shipment of weapons, which it
said raised concerns and indicated an expanded military
relationship between the two countries.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare trip to Russia to
meet President Vladimir Putin last month, fanning concerns they
could shore up Russia's military in Ukraine while North Korea
obtained missile technology banned under U.N. resolutions.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will visit North Korea
this week, according to North Korea's state media KCNA and
Russia's foreign ministry.
"Kim Jong Un is continuing with his nuclear obsession by
sacrificing people's livelihood and violating their human
rights," Kim Gunn, South Korea's nuclear envoy, said, condemning
the alleged military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang as
a "blatant" violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
In a further sign of a growing trilateral security cooperation,
South Korea, the United States and Japan have completed work on
a three-way communications hotline, Yonhap news agency reported
on Tuesday citing a senior Seoul official.
South Korea's foreign ministry did not immediately confirm the
report about the hotline being ready.
On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to
boost the defense industry as he addressed the opening of the
country's largest-ever defense exhibition, which included a rare
flyover by a U.S. nuclear-capable B-52 strategic bomber.
Pyongyang has repeatedly criticized the United States over the
deployment of strategic assets in the region, including the
recent arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier, calling it a
provocation.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, Hyunsu Yim and
Soo-hyang Choi in Seoul; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Ed Davies and
Bernadette Baum)
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